


Progress

by writerdot



Series: 14 Day McDanno Challenge [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 5x04, 5x18, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 15:27:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3614931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerdot/pseuds/writerdot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny gets a package from his mom, one he's not sure that he's ready for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progress

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Okay, so, this one gave me some problems, mostly because it didn't turn out at all like I'd intended. Apparently my muse is determined to fill in the blanks from the Matt/Columbia arc. I hope you guys like it.

**Day 3: Watching a Movie**

Steve is pretty sure that if he stares at the computer screen any longer, his eyes are going to pop out of his head. He glances at the time on the corner of the computer screen and sees that it’s almost eight. He remembers Chin, Lou and Kono leaving nearly two hours ago, but he and Danny had split the latest casework, so they’d stuck around.

And now that he thinks about it, Danny is usually in and out of his office (or vice versa) on nights like this to alleviate paperwork headaches, but he hasn’t seen or heard his partner in a while.

Deciding he’s had enough for the night, he saves what he’s working on, turns off his computer, grabs his bag, and makes his way to his Danny’s office.

“Yo,” he says, poking his head in. “Want to grab some beer and- hey, you okay? What’s that?”

Danny is sitting despondently at his desk, staring at what looks like a DVD case atop a manila envelope.

“Uh, one of the guys downstairs brought it up, it was delivered shortly after everyone else left,” Danny answers, still looking at the case. As Steve gets closer, he sees that it's actually face-down.

“Okay,” Steve says slowly. “Is it suspicious? We can send it to Fong have him take a look.“

Danny shakes his head. “No, No, it’s not suspicious. My mom sent it. She probably sent it here thinking it would be a nice surprise, but I wish she’d warned me.”

Steve moves forward, sits in one of the chairs in front of Danny's desk. “You love getting things from her.”

Danny picks the case up and tosses it to Steve.

Steve understands immediately when he sees the picture of a teenage Matt and Danny on the front cover.

“Danny…” 

Danny bites his lower lip and Steve can see he’s trying to hold back tears. “I, uh, when I went back to Jersey right after he we found Matt, she talked about all the home movies of the family, of…of Matt…she said she was afraid the old tapes would get ruined and she wanted to see about getting them converted. She had wanted to watch them then and I wasn’t ready. None of us really were.”

“So she found someone,” Steve says needlessly. It’s been little more than a year since Matt’s murder, since Danny was sent to prison. That day that Steve had brought Danny to Grace was the last day they discussed anything pertaining to what happened to Matt.

He’d been determined not to push Danny about it, even though he can remember instances when a shadow would cross Danny’s face, like something had reminded him of a time he’d rather forget. Steve can recognize that look, he’s seen it in the mirror enough times. He knows Danny and figured that when Danny was ready to talk, he would.

Now appears to be the time and he is determined to be the sounding board Danny needs.

 “Yeah,” Danny confirms. “And she made me a little present. I just…it hit me when I saw this, you know? How much I miss him, how much I wanted to protect him...what an idiot he was.”

"It's okay to be mad at him," Steve says in understanding.

“I guess I didn't realize I still was. But-I just...I miss us as a family, you know?” Danny continues.  “I mean, getting together at holidays, or just for nothing at all. Hell, when I decided that Hawaii was going to be my home, too, I even entertained stupid fantasies about everyone gathering here with you and our team. My whole family. Things just aren’t simple anymore and even after all this time, my parents and sisters, they all still seem lost. I don’t know how to fix it, what to do.”

Steve leans forward, elbows on his knees and puts the case back on the desk. “Danny,” he implores. “There’s no time limit on grief. It shouldn’t be up to you to fix everything. You’re still grieving and that’s okay.”

Danny laughs humorlessly. “But that’s what I’ve done, Steve. My whole life. I'm the one they come to when they have a problem. I do my best to solve it, make them feel better. I did whatever I could for Matt and it was never enough.”

“It was more than enough,” Steve responds firmly. “Danny, you sacrificed yourself, for all of us, don’t you see that? It was more than enough and you paid the price a hundred times over.”

Danny swallows hard, wiping at wet cheeks. “Maybe.”

Steve gets up, goes around Danny’s desk. Turning Danny’s chair around, he sinks to his knees in front of him and grabs his cheeks, forcing Danny to look him in the eye.

“It was enough,” Steve repeats, enunciating every syllable. “YOU are enough.”

He can see that Danny’s watching his face, eyes focused and searching, like they do when he’s trying to figure out if a suspect is lying to him or not. Steve waits patiently. He’s not sure how much time has passed before Danny sags against him.

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

“I’ll remind you every chance I get.”

Danny nods against Steve’s shoulder. They sit there for a few minutes before Steve leans back and puts his hands on the arms of Danny’s chair.

“You said that you weren’t ready a year ago to watch the home movies,” Steve begins cautiously.

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Well…how about now?”

Danny blinks slowly, looks at the case on the desk and doesn’t speak for a long time.

When he finally does, his voice is small and still a little tearful. “I don’t know how much I could watch.”

“Whatever you can. Start small.”

Danny considers this. “Would you, uh, would you want to watch it with me?”

Steve takes his hand, squeezes his fingers. “If you didn't ask, I would have attempted to talk you into it. You definitely shouldn't do it alone.”

"Yeah." Danny scratches his nose, fiddles with a nearby pen and Steve waits. Finally, he takes a deep breath, and smiles softly. “Your place or mine?”

Relieved, Steve answers, “I do have the better TV.”

“You do,” Danny agrees. “Also, I’m out of beer.”

“Well, there you go.” Steve pulls him up, puts a hand on his back. “My place it is.”

  

 

 

 


End file.
